The judge and the historian. The “context witnesses” in the Trial for the Trelew Massacre. Interview with Vera Carnovale

Abstract

This text transcribes an interview that Ana Trucco Dalmas did to Vera Carnovale regarding her participation in the Trial for the Trelew Massacre. Indeed, during the month of August 2012, the historian Vera Carnovale was summoned to testify as a context witness in the trial for the crimes committed by members of the Argentine Navy and Army against 19 guerrillas, at the Almirante Zar Naval Air Base ( Chubut, Argentina), on the night of August 22, 1972. For any historian, having the object of their investigations deliberated in courts of justice is a unique opportunity, which can only encourage historiographical reflection. The comparison between the office of the judge and that of the historian has been the subject of important debates. From March Bloch to Enzo Traverso, through Carlo Guinzburg, the relationships between "historical truth" and "legal truth" —their procedures and methodologies— have been analyzed from different perspectives. What differentiates the task of the judge of the historian's office? In what dimensions are they linked? How are documents and testimony used in a trial? How does a historian analyze them? All these questions were answered by Carnovale in this interview.